People's Republic of Syria
The People's Republic of Syria (more commonly: Syria) is is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. Its capital Damascus is among the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, it is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups. Although the term "People's Republic" became associated with communism, Syria adopted the title given its rather generic nature. The People's Republic was established in 1982 after the attempted crackdown of the Muslim Brotherhood Uprising in Hama and the failures in the Lebanon War. The Syrian Arab Republic was disbanded, the Assad Family trialed and executed by firing squad and the People's Republic established. Syria is a member of multiple international organization other than the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement; the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Union for the Mediterranean.. History Reasons for the planned coup The Syrian Arab Republic under Hafez al-Assad's became less popular in the population after the lost Yom-Kippur War. Hafez al-Assad had most of the politics under control of his clan and crushed every criticism. In the following years a group (called the "Circle of Steel") of high-ranking politicians, military leaders and intelectuals under the command of Yasir Al-Fulani, an Lieutenant colonel of the Syrian Arab Army began to carefully plan a strategy to overthrow the Assad government. In their eyes it was unbearable to have the country ruled by a despotic clan and a President who lost the war against the Israelis. The coup Following the ill-fated Lebanon War and the Muslim Brotherhood uprising, the Circle of Steel saw it's chance to make the initial steps. When Hafez al-Assad ordered the Army to move towards Hama to crush the uprising there, the units instead turned their weapons against the Assad family. All major locations were quickly captured and secured, Hafez al-Assad's convoy was intercepted at an Army checkpoint close to Damascus International Airport. The islamist uprising in Hama ended peacefully, as an political position in the new government was offered to the Muslim Brotherhood by Yasir al-Fulani. Aftermath A new government was quickly established, a mix of Yasir Al-Fulani's supporters, other small opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and parts of the old Baathist government. Hafez al-Assad and all of his clan members were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, officially because of their crimes against the syrian population, but the main intention was to eliminate any possible threat by the Assad clan and a possible counter-coup. The new government remained unchanged foreign relations with Iran and the Soviet Union, only the relations with Israel changed slightly in a more positive way, but remained tense. Politics W.I.P. Military The Syrian Armed Forces (arabic: القوات المسلحة العربية السورية‎) are the military forces of Syria. They consist of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, Syrian Arab Air Force and Syrian Arab Air Defense Force. After the 1982 coup, the Armed Forces underwent major changes, the most notable change was the shift from a conscripted force to a all-professional military with volunteer paramilitary groups acting as a strategic reserve force. Until 1991 the main supplier of the Armed Forces was the Soviet Union, followed by France. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of Syria expanded it's military cooperation with Iran and recruited personell from the Eastern Bloc to develop capabilities to maintain, produce and improve military hardware by itself. Syria received significant financial aid from Persian Gulf Arab states as a result of its participation in the Persian Gulf War, with a sizable portion of these funds earmarked for military spending. In 2005, Russia forgave Syria of three-fourths, or about $9.8 billion, of its $13.4 billion Soviet-era debt. Russia wrote off the debt in order to renew arms sales with Syria. Syrian People's Republic ArmyCategory:Kingdom of TexasCategory:Nations It's the land force branch of the Armed Forces and the largest branch of them. It took part in the 1991 Gulf War and is currently engaged in the War against the Islamic State since 2014. Equipment of the Army Like all the other branches of the Armed Forces, the Army was in a very fortunate situation at the beginning of the 1990s. Following the dissolution of the GDR, the vast majority of military hardware found it's way to Syria through russian channels and during the Gulf War some military hardware was captured from Iraqi forces or brought to Syria by iraqi defectors. Main Battle Tanks * T-72 - 300 T-72A received from the Soviet Union in 1982, later upgraded to T-72AV standard, between 2003 - 2006 all the T-72AV were upgraded with the italian TURMS-T fire control system; 192 T-72M and 136 T-72M1 received from GDR stocks in 1992, T-72M upgraded with laser-rangefinder, smoke grenade dischargers and add-on armour plates on the glacis and hull * T-55 -